Air distributor for fans



April 17, 1956 MASON 2,742,226

AIR DISTRIBUTOR FOR FANS Filed Dec. 19, 1952 IN V E NTO R fZA-wER/C/r 11 M450 ATTOR NEYS This invention relates to air distributing means, and

- more particularly towards an'air distributor arranged to receive air from a fan and cause such air to be' deflected along preselected paths of movement.

Asis well known, in most of the internal combustion engineinstallations on'various types of vehicles, a radiator is utilized in conjunction with the vehicle, so as to permit the water or other engine coolant to be exposed to a flow of air'through the radiator for lowering the temperature of the circulating cooling liquid. Normally, the radiator is disposed adjacent the front of the vehicle, andby means of a suitable fan positioned between the engine and radiator, air'is sucked in through the latter for the reason stated above. While the foregoing arrangenient is adequate for'conventional types of automobiles, trucks or the like, for theso-callcd stationary commercial equipment,"which include slower moving vehicles such as caterpillars, bulldozers and'the like, it has been the practice to utilize blower type fans which serve to blowtheairfrom the inner surface of the radiator through the latter to thej front or outside thereof. The

United States Pate reasons for using blower fans include supposed increased engine cooling efficiency,and in the case of caterpillars equipped with scoop shovels or similar load moving members, itis believed apparent that the use of a suction type fan would blow dust, sand and other particlesover the operator ,of the vehicle "as .well as on the engine.

Unfortunately, the use of blower fans presented a new problem not contemplated by the designers, and this problem consisted of an extremely short radiator life' byvirtue of the same being constantly blasted with sand and the like hurled at the radiator by the fan. In practice, it was 'found that when the apparatus wasoperating in sand, gravel orsirnilar products, the average life of a radiator is very short due to the aforesaid sand blasting effect. When his considered that a radiator for heavy equipments cost a considerable amount of money, it will be readily appreciated that the maintenance expense may become prohibitive.

*It is therefore an'object of the present invention to provide an attachment for. use in combination with an engine fan and radiator provided on earth moving equipment or the like which will positively and effectively prevent sand blasting of such radiator during normal operation of the equipment. s V

' Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus of the character "described by means ofrwhich a suction type fan may be utilized without causing undesirable dust and dirt to be blown back against the engine and operator of the vehicle. s

Still another object of the invention is to provide appara tus of the above type which will result in cooler engine running. i

A further object of this invention is to provide an air deflector arranged to be operatively positioned between a motor and a suction type fan and a radiator which will cause the air being sucked through the radiator to be directed transversely of the longitudinalaxis of the vehicle ice so as to form a substantial wall or shield of air lying in a vertical plane normal to said axis.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an air distributor of the above character in which adjustable louvers are utilized so as to permit selective directional guides to the air stream.-

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will, be.

set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawing accompanyingand forming part of the specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims. I

-, Referring to said drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view, diagrammatic in character,

illustrating our improved distributor in operative position. Figure 2 is a front perspective view of the distributor. Figure 3 is a rear perspective view of the distributor. As hereinabove stated, the air distributor of the present invention is arranged to be operatively positioned between an engine 11 of a vehicle and a suction fan 12 thereof, the latter being disposed adjacent a radiator 13.

When the terms front and rear are used herein, it will be understood that such terms relate to the front and rear of the vehicle respectively. The engine fan, and radiator, just mentioned, have not .been'illustrated in any detail, inasmuch as they are conventional and form no independent part of my invention. In general practice however, the fan is mounted on a longitudinally extending shaft 14 and may be driven by a belt operatively connected to the engine. Also, as is well known, the radiator 13 is provided with longitudinally extending passages through. which air may pass'to cool the water which is constantly circulating through the engine and radiator. It will be readily understood that if the fan 12 is of a suction type, and the bulldozer or other type of earth moving vehicle is operating in sand, gravel or earth, small particles of sand and dust will be thrown rearwardly against engine 11 and will also be 'blownwith considerable .force against the operator of the vehicle who is not entrained in the air to be likewise dispersed. I v As will be best seen in Figure 2, the front of the dis tributor' 21, i. e., the side adjacent fan 12, is provided with aplurality of louvers 22, which, for reason of idenj tification, might be'classified as left hand louvers 23 and I right hand louvers 24. 'The louvers are disposed ingenerally vertical parallel spaced relation and are of arcuate cross-sectional form with the leading edges 26 thereof all disposed substantially in a vertical plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of fan 12. The trailing edges 27 of the left hand louvers 23 face the left hand side of the vehicle while the trailing edges 28 of the right hand louvers '2 all are directed towards the right hand side of the vehicle; the expressions right and left being used in their conventional manner as when a person is seated in the vehicle. It will be observed in Figure2 that the louvers are not of all the same length and the apparatus does not appear perfectly symmetrical. The reason for this is that in most vehicles, various shafts, sheaves, belts or other accessories prevent the louvers from occupying the entire area between the engine and fan.

Patented Apr. 17, 1956 V of the rear wall members.

directed outwardly by the 'curvate .form of the louvers,

A However, it should be pointed out that preferably, as large 7 an area as possible is provided "with the louvers 22;

As here shown, the deflector is constructed with a left central line of juncture... In this manner, the towers,

which -as previously mentioned all liefin a substantialiy ve'rticalplane, are not at a uniform distance from the walls. In other WOTdS, the trailing edges of the louvers adjacent the vertical center 'of the deflector will be closer to their respective walls flranthe louvers at the transverse'ends of the distributor, so .as to :provide outwardly diverging air channels 36 and '37, the channels-extending V the air to be directed forwardly or rearwardly of the general vertical plane defined by the distributor. his is -of the exact aerodynamic phenomena is not completely understood, it has been found that as air is forced outwardly along the channels 36 and 3.7, a .suction is created adjacent the juncture of the two sections, probably by virtue of a venturi effect. Then, in spite of the fact that the fan is of asuction type, the suction created by the flow of air through the louvers and -channels sufverti'cally and arranged to receive air from the louvers;

and direct the air transversely of the longitudinal axis of the *vehicle/ V Means are provided for supporting the louvers infixed 1 relation to'the respective rear =walls, such means including upper horizontal Webs 38 and. 39 and lower webs 41, the latter beingdisposed in varying location's, depending on the position of obstructing portions --'of the vehicle drive-medhanism; In "the particular distributor illustrated, it will also benoted that'a lower louver assembly 42 is provided on the lower part of section '32 which includes web's 43 and 44 and louvers 46, and on section 31 an upwardly and outwardly disposed air deflecting Web '47 is utilized. The louvers maybe secured to the various web members in any convenient manner, but preferably by welding. i

'To secure the sections 31 and 32 together, rearwardly disposed flanges 48 and '49 are provided on section 31 cooperative with similar flanges 51 and '52 on section 3'2, and bolts "53 pass through the llanges to releasably hold the sections together. "It will'be obvious that if the distributor was "integrally formed, it would 'be impossible .to install the same without removing the fan, shaft, and

possibly other parts of the engine assembly. 7 However,

' by using the sectionaliz'ed arrangement illustrated; each section may be readily placed in position and then bolted together. Any suitable arrangement may be utilized for mounting the distributor, such as the rearwardly extendingweb 56 on section 31 provided with holes 57 whereby the web may be secured to portions of 'the engine assembly by bolts '58. Likewise, aperture "59 in section 32 may receive bolts for attachment to the engine asserrrbly.

From the foregoing description the utility and operating characteristics of my device should be readily understood. As air is sucked through the radiator by fan 12, the air will enter the spaces between the louvers and strike the 'rearwardly and outwardly curved front sur fa'ces it will continue to flow through channels 36 and'37 and be dischargedon the left and right hand side of the vehicle. In tests conducted-unearth moving equipment provided with my improved air distributor, the-entrained dust 'andrsand particles were seen to fan out in agen'erally vertical plane disposed between the fan and engine. This results .in-cooler engine operation, increased comfort and visibility for the operator, and vastly increased radiator life.

If desired, adjustable end louvers 61 and 62 may be utilized at the lateral edges of the respective sections to permit a selective final control of the air stream flow. These louvers are pivotally mounted bybolts to fixed portions of the distributor and may be thereby locked in selected positions of angular relationship so as to cause As the air has already been ficient to suck h ot .airlfrom the engine. .For this reason, the central opening 71 of the deflector is preferably of 'a relatively large s z for when this opening is closed wardly iromsaid inner edges thereof, a plurality of vertically disposed louvers mounted on each of said wall members,:e'acl1 of said louvers "being of inmate cross-sectional 'form'withtherespective leading and trailing 'edg'esthereof a'lllyin'g substantially in common vertical plane's,'the trailing edge portions of the louvers being curved in general conformity to the curvature of the respective wall members, said trailing edge portions being spaced from said wall members to define a laterally extending channel therebetween of outwardly diverging cross-sectional form.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including apair of vertically disposedlouvers adjacent the outer vertical edges of said Wall members, and pivotal mounting means for said louvers'for selective angular adjustment thereof about agenerally vertical axis. 7

3.1'Xir distributing apparatus comprising a vertically disposed panel member tapering rearwardly and outwardly fromfboth'sides of a vertical central portion thereof, a plurality of vertically disposed louvers adjacent the "front side of said panel member, each of said louvers having 'a' leading edge disposed in a substantially common vertical plane and .be'ingof arcuate cross-sectional form, the trailing edgeportions of said louvers being spaced from said panelmember and being directed outwardly from both sides .o flsaid centra'lportion, said trailing edge portions of said 'louvers cooperating with said panel member to define therebetween a pair of outwardly diverging channels through which air passing betweensaid'louvers .may enter for lateral travel and discharge on opposite sides of said panel member, means defining a generally central opening in said panel member and in .said louvers, and mounting means supporting said ..louvers in said relationship .to said panel-member. i f

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 in which said mounting means includes a plurality 'of web members extending .normal from said panel member.

References Cited in the fileof this patent.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Brennan May 24, 1938 Daugherty on. s, 1on3 

